Congratulations to 2009 Award Winners

NAHSL is honored to present a lifetime achievement award to James (Jay) Daly. We only regret that this is a posthumous award. Jay’s daughter Eowyn Daly received the award at the NAHSL banquet October 26, 2009.

(From the MLA News) Jay Daly was librarian, author, and innovator who died suddenly on May 28, 2009, in Brookline, MA. He was well known for creating and developing Quick Doc, the interlibrary loan (ILL) program that interfaces with the National Library of Medicine’s DOCLINE system to expedite and organize the requesting, record-keeping, and report preparation processes involved in ILL. Daly was a librarian at the Agoos Medical Library, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, since 1984; he held positions as director and information specialist. Before becoming a medical librarian, he was an author of novels and short stories, and he worked as a children’s librarian at the Boston Public Library, Boston, MA. Among his writings are a novel, Walls, a coming-of-age story; a short story, “Unity,” that was published in Ploughshares magazine; and a book of literary criticism about S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders. He received his master’s in library science from Simmons College, Boston, MA. Daly was an active member of MLA who served on the Nominating and Program Committees, and he was a member of the Medical Informatics Section. He was also a member of NAHSL .

In 1993, he received MLA’s Frank Bradway Rogers Information Advancement Award for his “distinguished contributions to the application of technology to the delivery of health care information.” Daly will be remembered not only for his innovative accomplishments, but for his collegial, patient, kind, and helpful manner toward the many medical librarians who called on him for assistance in using QuickDoc and many other reasons. As Margo Coletti said, “Talking to Jay was like talking to your brother”, echoing the thoughts of many NAHSL colleagues.

NAHSL 2009 Achievement Award

Mark Goldstein, NAHSL 2009 Achievement Award

The NAHSL Achievement Award was established to recognize outstanding performance and leadership of members and supporters of the health sciences library community in New England. This year’s Achievement Award is presented to Mark Goldstein.

Mark is the Network Coordinator for the Region’s National Network of Libraries of Medicine, a position he has held since 2001. In this role Mark is in constant communication with member libraries, conducts DOCLINE training across the region and is the convener of two Regional Advisory Committee bodies that work to advise the RML in the development of programs and responses to library issues.

But Mark has done much more than his job description requires. He has contributed to our region as advisor to librarians, advocate for medical libraries, contributor to NAHSL as both Treasurer and Chair of the Finance Committee, and as enthusiastic participant in whatever interesting or innovative thing might be going on.

Five years ago Mark saw the need to respond to the alarming trend of library closures throughout the region and the country. He convened the NN/LM Regional Advisory Committee’s Hospital Library Subcommittee (called by some the “Mark Goldstein Committee”). With the Committee, Mark developed an advocacy strategy for hospital libraries. He conducted site visits to meet with hospital administrators to advocate for the Library. He oversaw the production and completion of two Committee toolkits: the Hospital Librarian Orientation Toolkit and the Hospital Library Promotional Toolkit. This work has garnered attention and replication from other regions.

NAHSL members from all over the region have praised his service and achievements:

A hospital librarian from New Bedford (MA) remembers how he reached out to local library consortia, attending SEMCO meetings to provide RML updates to hospital and health science librarians. He “was very friendly and always trying to help a fellow librarian.”

A librarian from Newport states, “Mark has been a tremendous help to librarians in Rhode Island! He is always available whenever we have concerns about DOCLINE issues. He is a patient teacher and explains technical things in a way that is easily understandable for the “non-techie”.

A Librarian from a major Boston teaching hospital said, “Mark is the link between NN/LM, Docline and Linkout for all members of the region. Providing training and updates is a never ending job.”

A Vermont hospital Librarian said, “Mark has been indefatigable in his efforts to support hospital librarians.”

From New Hampshire: Mark has been more than a contact or even a colleague. He has been a friend to all the medical librarians in the region.

Does Mark have other talents? You bet! Who can forget his shocked sternness in the role of “Genteel prosecutor” in Nursing Practice Court: A Play about Evidence-Based Information, written by Jean Slepian and presented at NAHSL 2007 in Woodstock. Jean says, “He was perfect for the role, studious, serious, yet aghast at the behavior of the “defendant” nurse, Miss Olive Old Fashioned! “

Congratulations to Mark for this very well-deserved NAHSL Achievement Award!